(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to displays and pertains, more particularly, to plates or plaques capable of displaying human recognizable characters in digital-like appearance.
(2) Description of Related Art
Conventional display units such as address plates or plaques have been in use for a number of years. Reference is made to the exemplary U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,289,617; 5,521,578; and RE 30,324. Regrettably, most conventional displays suffer from obvious disadvantages. With some, the displayed letters or numbers are fixed thereon and cannot be changed. Others use a fixed set of letters or numbers kit to be placed on the address plates or plaques. With the kits, if a sufficient number of characters are not included in the kit or if one or more characters are lost or damaged over the years the user can no longer use the kit or the display. Still others use complex electrical display units that have complicated components and require power, which necessitates expensive alteration to a structure to which the address plate or plaque is connected for accessing power outlets or power storage units.
In light of the current state of the art and the drawbacks to current devices and methods mentioned above, a need exists for a display unit that would allow for a variable number of characters to be displayed without the use of fixed characters or fixed set of characters, and that would be simple to use without any complex contraptions.